Martyrs hit by Defty's late strike

THE Martyrs missed out on a great opportunity to close the gap upon Southern League Premier Division leaders Chippenham Town after conceding an equaliser at Kings Lynn deep into second-half stoppage time.

King's Lynn 1-1 Merthyr TydfilTHE Martyrs missed out on a great opportunity to close the gap upon Southern League Premier Division leaders Chippenham Town after conceding an equaliser at Kings Lynn deep into second-half stoppage time.

Indeed, none of the top seven teams in the league managed to chalk up a victory at the weekend which made the loss of two league points even harder for Merthyr to take.

And this after Merthyr had taken a half-time lead courtesy of Craig Steins' 25-yard drive seven minutes before the break.

Martyrs' manager John Relish was sure that the home side's comeback was due in no small part to referee Chris Francis' decision to dismiss Merthyr's Chris Holloway for retaliation following a foul by Lynn's Mark Camm.

"The referee buckled under pressure from the home crowd," said Relish afterwards. "They were screaming for Chris to be shown the red card and the official gave them what they wanted. And I made sure I told him so afterwards."

And, Merthyr going down to 10-men undoubtedly played a part in the increased pressure which slowly developed as the game wore on.

Just when it looked as though Merthyr would hold out for all three points up popped Jack Defty to beat goalkeeper Ashley Morris at a quickly taken free-kick to ruin Merthyr's day.